Are we there yet?
22/06/06
Three years into a war in the country and after 2400 military deaths there, nearly two-thirds of 18 to 24 year old Americans cannot find Iraq on a map - of the Middle East.
And there's more:
"Thirty-three percent of respondents couldn't pinpoint Louisiana on a map.
Fewer than three in 10 think it important to know the locations of countries in the news and just 14 percent believe speaking another language is a necessary skill.
Two-thirds didn't know that the earthquake that killed 70,000 people in October 2005 occurred in Pakistan.
Six in 10 could not find Iraq on a map of the Middle East.
Forty-seven percent could not find the Indian subcontinent on a map of Asia.
Seventy-five percent were unable to locate Israel on a map of the Middle East.
Nearly three-quarters incorrectly named English as the most widely spoken native language.
Six in 10 did not know the border between North and South Korea is the most heavily fortified in the world.
Thirty percent thought the most heavily fortified border was between the United States and Mexico."
Source: The Associated Press
Tags: education
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Thursday, June 22, 2006 at 12:57 pm
Maybe they should poll young adults who aren’t IN JAIL. I mean cummon, they didn’t question every person that age yet that is presented as a fact that they did. There is an agenda here…
Thursday, June 22, 2006 at 1:06 pm
they dun even know the it on the map??? how pathetic!!.. lolz.. anyway u have an interesting blog here…It got me addicted on reading it.. Keep it up.. leave me some comment too at my blog InvernoKL wanna have ur words on it.. :p take care, xian
Thursday, June 22, 2006 at 3:57 pm
Reply to Oz: Of course they didn’t question the whole 18 to 24 year old population of the USA. These polls are always about stats, and where there are stats – you’re right – there’s an agenda. In this case it’s not about any lack of intelligence in American youth; it’s about institutional isolationism.
Reply to Xian: Thanks for your comment man, I’m going to check out your blog.
Friday, June 23, 2006 at 1:56 am
Remember: there’s no such thing as a Bad Student…they say there are only Bad Teachers.
In this case, I propose the culprit is neither. Institutional Isolationism comes closer to the mark, but misses slightly. US leaders are to arrogant to see the need to institute their own agenda within the school system. And, one may argue, too dumb to pull it off. The problem is Greed & Power Lust, which starts at the top, but oozes downhill to, say, the Kansas City school board, who lead the crusade to remove Darwin from science texts.
But their agenda isn’t to brainwash the youth. Their agenda is to serve their personal political ambition. When a K.C. school board member runs for state legislature, they get to add the hot-button War on Darwin to their resume.
Or maybe they’re plain embarassed, since the whole Evolution thing obviously didn’t work out for ‘em…